The days of door-to-door salespeople disturbing Western Australian families in the evening are over, with unsolicited visits after 6pm on weekdays banned from tomorrow.
Unsolicited sales - where the seller approaches the consumer uninvited at a place away from their business premises - had previously been allowed from 9am until 8pm on weekdays.

Already, Australia-wide, receiving unsolicited visits at the door are limited to between 9am and 5pm on Saturday with a total ban on Sundays and public holidays. This will not change.

Although this change does not affect telemarketing calls, which can still be made until 8pm, householders can protect themselves from unwanted sales calls by signing up to the Do Not Call register http://www.donotcall.gov.au

A 10 business day cooling off period will apply to all unsolicited sales, including telephone calls.

Commerce Minister Michael Mischin said the State Government had amended the Australian Consumer Law (WA) following strong support from the community.

“There are few greater nuisances than sitting down to a meal with family after a long day at work and having your personal time interrupted by a knock on the door from a stranger trying to sell something,” Mr Mischin said.

“A public consultation undertaken by Consumer Protection showed WA wanted to follow the lead of other Australian States and Territories in limiting hours in which salespeople can knock on your door. Many respondents expressed concerns about being visited after dark, especially during winter.

“Now door-to-door sellers of goods and services can only doorknock between 9am and 6pm on weekdays in WA, a reduction of two hours on the previous 8pm limit.

“WA now has the same rules as the rest of Australia, which should avoid confusion for both industry and consumers.

The Minister said WA consumers who did not want any sellers to call at their home uninvited should display a Do Not Knock sticker which can be ordered from Consumer Protection by calling